1 I. The Brain

Rhea's POV

My name is Rhea Talons. I have an older brother, and two older sisters: twins. Our ages are decently spaced, so my sisters are three years older than me, while my brother is a full six years older. I am the last child born to loving parents, which makes me the baby of the house.

My father is Jay Talons, alpha of the Claw pack and my mother is Luna Mavis. In keeping with the coincidence of their own names, they named each of us after a bird. My brother is Lark, the twins are Raven and Robin, and I am Rhea. If you are wondering what a Rhea is, think of a cross between an emu and an ostrich.

Needless to say, I do not have my room decorated with my namesake the way my sisters do.

I am unlike other wolves in my pack. That is not to say that I am weak or slow, but from an early age, I knew I was gifted in the brains department. My parents were at first apprehensive, but eventually they accepted any decision I made about my education.

I accelerated through my classes and I am well respected as a model student in the human world. However, when I am back at home, I am far from the ideal; especially after being diagnosed by a human doctor as having high functioning autism. It is very 'un-wolf' like.

I have a small lab hidden in the woods, and it is where I conduct most of my experiments. They almost always fail, but I know it's because my knowledge is limited; I'm only ten.

That is where I am now, and I just burned my eyebrows off and singed a good part of my hair.

I probably look crazy, and my wolf, yes, I already have a wolf, is scolding me. I know she is right, what I am doing is dangerous, but I want to figure out how to mask a wolf's scent.

My father recently lost a young soldier in a scouting mission, and he has been taking the loss hard because the man had a pup on the way. I heard him say that the scout was only caught because a gust of wind carried his scent.

I do not do well with death, another thing that sets me apart from other wolves. I would not say that I am emotional, I just have a tough time being social with non-relatives, which is why death scares me. I cannot take the idea of being on my own one day.

I am so emotionally dependent on my family that it terrifies me to think that they may not be there for me in the future, but I am okay when I think of things the other way around.

What I am working on now is to help, not just the warriors, but my father and brother, who are now preparing for war. After the scout was killed, he was identified, and the alpha of the pack my father sent him to investigate has declared our neutral relationship as hostile.

If you haven't already guessed, I'm a nosey little thing. I am extremely quiet, so sometimes the adults talk and don't even notice me in the room.

My alarm rings, and I quickly change into something more presentable before scurrying out of my 'lab,' which is really a small cave, and back toward the packhouse. There is a strict curfew with the threat of an attack looming, and an alpha's daughter is a prize. Even one that's considered broken like me.

I run fast, and I am fast, I mean really fast. Sometimes, I can't stop in time, and as if I could speak accidents into existence, I crash heavily into the back of Colton Stone, one of the potential alphas of the Iron Pack. He turns to glare at me, and I frantically look around, hoping to find someone to protect me, but there is no one.

Colton is cruel and he hates everything. The only person he is kind of warm to is my older brother. They are closer in age, and as future alphas, they can relate to one another. He wasn't always mean to me, in fact, he used to ignore me like everyone else, but one day he realized I was 'fun' to bully, and I've been his favorite target since.

"What the fuck? Didn't you see me there?" I shake my head, doing my best to show my submission, but it doesn't work. He grabs me by the front of my shirt and lifts me high into the air. He is only thirteen, but he is much taller and much stronger than I am.

"I'm s-sorry," I stutter out, and he snickers before sniffing me.

"You smell like sh*t." I resist the urge to smile because my failed experiment has partially worked. It masked my scent, which I know is not 'sh*t' as Colton had said. I wanted to ask him if he smelled any hint of me or my wolf at all, but the anger on his face has paralyzed my speech. "Such a pathetic excuse for a wolf, and to think that you got yours before me." That was always a sore spot for, not just Colton, but a lot of other teens in the pack, including my own siblings.

"I- I have to get home now. There is a curfew." Colton tosses me to the ground like a rag doll and I pop up as if it did not hurt to be thrown. I start running again and this time catch up to my siblings.

I slow down and act as if I were with them the whole time they were chatting with Dolton, Colton's twin. They like teasing me and they call me Brain; in fact, the entire pack now calls me that. It doesn't bother me, but I know that it should.

I also know that they are jealous that I am starting high school with them instead of middle school come August, so I ignore it.

We enter the Packhouse and each retreat to our rooms just in time for my mother to take a headcount. Raven and Robin share a room by choice; so, I am all alone in mine, and I have a feeling that is why my wolf came so early.

I was so lonely one night that I asked my wolf to come forward and she did. I was utterly shocked, but Sylvia, my wolf, said it was always meant to happen that way.

"Why are the twins here?" I ask my mother. She intuitively knows I am talking about Colton and Dolton, not my sisters. I would never refer to them as 'the twins' because they hate that.

"The alphas think they need time to bond with your sisters. We have word that they may be fated to one another, and if not we at least hope that they choose to be mates." I nod, but I secretly hope neither of my sisters are fated to Colton. Dolton on the other hand is okay.

The chances are slim anyway, so I push my thoughts aside. Less than thirty percent of wolves have a fated mate, so it is rare. Wolves who are fated receive a strength increase after marking one another, and they have stronger children. Ambitious alphas are known to scour the globe trying to find 'the one' but the 'moon goddess' works in mysterious ways.

"Will I have a mate?" I ask skeptically.

"That is a question for the goddess." I roll my eyes, and my mother comes over to kiss my forehead, but she stops when she realizes I don't have eyebrows. "Young lady, what did we discuss?"

"No experiments," I recite in a monotone voice; my mother is not pleased.

"You wait until I tell your father." That gets my tears moving. My father has warned me that he will keep me in my correct grade if I keep 'playing with fire.' I beg and plead for a second chance, and my mother gives in. "Last chance my little scientist." I smile and wipe my tears before settling into bed. My mother leaves my door open slightly because I am afraid of the dark. I close my eyes but hear someone come in, so I sit up.

"So, the little freak wants a mate?" Colton picks up one of my stuffed animals, rips the head off, and throws it at me. "If you find a mate, he will reject a weak r*tard like you." Rejections among mates are rare, but they did happen.

I say nothing, I am terrified of Colton and he likes that, the best thing for me to do is keep silent, and hopefully he will be satisfied by my fear and leave.